Paris Is Burning Video

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directed by: Jennie Livingston

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Average Rating: Rating: - THE GAY HOUSE BALLS AT THEIR FINEST! VOGUE-BATTLES! I THOUGHT THIS FILM SHOWED THE BALLROOM SCENE WONDERFULLY. IT WAS GREAT SEEING ALL THE LEGENDARY CHILDREN ON FILM. I WOULD RECOMMEND IT TO ANY YOUNG BLACK GAY MALE AS A START OF PERSONAL GAY BLACK PRIDE. THIS IS WHERE VOGUEING ORIGINATED.THEY BETTER WORK. Rating: - Compelling, Unpretentious, Positive I saw this film in '90, a year after I had talked to Malcom McLaren who was trying to explain the whole ball scene to me. From his description of people who are trying to get a piece of the good life by literally emulating it, I thought it was a sad way to live. After I saw the film, I knew I was wrong. It was the BEST way to live. I saw it again recently, and after nine years I have to say that it is still one of the most powerfull, life affirming documentaries of all time. It is sad that this scene doesn't really exist anymore, after having been co-opted by the mainstream (and fodder for a Madonna album.) I recommend it to anyone who doesn't have a bug up their * about sexual orientation. If you can't get past that, well then, you'll never learn. Rating: - Defiance and Pathos** In the beginning of this film, one of the commentators says that he was told that he has two strikes against him: he is black and male. But in addition to that, he has a third strike: he's gay. "You're going to have to be stronger than you ever imagined," he is told. "Paris is Burning" is a documentary about gay black and Hispanic men who are tranvestites (men who dress in women's clothing) or transsexuals (people who have The Operation and become, biologically, the opposite sex). They come together and hold "balls" in which they compete in categories like "Executive Realness," "Opulence," and "the Boy Who Robbed You a Few Minutes before Arriving at the Ball." Although several of these categories seem like a satire of society at large, we are told by elder stateswoman/cynic/voice of reason Dorian Corey that "this isn't a parody or take-off. They are very seriously trying to pass as what they are dressing up as." The miracle of "Paris is Burning" is that director Jennie Livingston takes a subject that could have very easily become a freak show and allows the people in it their humanity. We learn their views of homosexuality, men, women, their hopes, their disappointments, their dreams. Some of these dreams are so unattainable it's tragic (does anyone seriously believe that a transsexual can become a successful female model and make the cover of "Vogue" magazine?). Many of the people are seriously in denial; Venus Xtravaganza, in particular, refuses to see himself as a prostitute ("I'll go out with a man...and sometimes he'll give me money so I can buy a dress and look pretty for him...but I don't have to go to bed with him 99% of the time...well, 95% of the time.") This is not a film for everyone. There are shots in this movie of nude transsexuals. It is definitely not for children, and if you have a problem with homosexuality, then this movie isn't for you, either. But if you do see this movie you'll realize "Paris is Burning" isn't really about men wearing women's clothes, it's about a group of people who are routinely marginalized and put down by society at large, and what they do to get a sense of community in their lives. I've watched this movie four times since it was released in 1991, because it says so many things: it's a commentary about materialism in our culture, about gender roles, about rich and poor people, about the media and what it celebrates, about fame and adulation. "Paris is Burning" is one of the most humane, and one of the saddest, movies I've ever seen.

Paris Is Burning Video

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